Vast Public Indifference

Stephen Pinker, writing for the New York Times Opinionator wonders, " Why Are States So Red and Blue? " Yes, of course, red sta...

Tragic news from Virginia today — a man named Albert Peterson killed his family and himself because he "felt that our God-given rights...

That's probably not something that has been said very often. Thomas Lechford was a lawyer in 17th-century England (so maligned right off...

There's a new American Girl doll, and she's from . . . . . . the War of 1812? Ok. Wevs. Apparently, her father owns a shipya...

Peacock Bigger He was a merchant, brazier, and distiller in Philadelphia in the 1730s-1740s. Not kidding. Look him up .

I've been working with some probate records at the Mass State Archives this week. I try to be productive, but sometimes it's difficu...

New Haven Colony, 1642 : Samuel Hoskins and Elizabeth Cleverly being desirous to join together in the state of marriage, and not being abl...

Update: This is the CNN homepage on Saturday afternoon at 2:30 It's late, so I'll make this quick: I really wish that all of ...

Some stories about American history from around the internet: The New York Times covers book conservator Marie Malchodi's discovery o...

Today, I am reading Norman J.G. Pounds' The History of the English Parish: The Culture of Religion from Augustine to Victoria (2000) an...

Today, I've been mulling over Cotton Mather's A Christian Funeral (1713), specifically as it contrasts with the use of cemeteries e...

In The New Republic , Harvard Law Professor Einer Elhauge delivers an awe-inspiring smackdown of the "originalist" case against th...

I'm sitting here, watching Who Do You Think You Are , working on Pete's family tree. He's descended from pretty much everyone in...

Jane Kamensky has a great article in Sunday's Boston Globe about how Americans think about John Singleton Copley. She argues that our c...

Here is John H. Sheppard , member of the board of directors of the New England Historical and Genealogical Society and librarian of the Soci...

If you are in Cambridge this evening, please consider attending this screening of Traces of the Trade: A Story from the Deep North . The ...

Many thanks to the readers who continue to send me excellent New England names. I apologize for not getting around to posting them until now...

I'm no fan of the anti-labor laws making their way through the Georgia state legislature at the moment, but Zaid Jilani makes a less-tha...